Forearm weight - it matters, and here's why!
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2024
- Going completely contrary to my previous video, here's something that hopefully explains why there are so many different ways of approaching alternate picking technique. I've noticed that people with 'heavier' forearms tend to have better wrist mechanics, which is generally because the weight of the arm is too heavy to keep up on top of the strings for any length of time.
Really helpful, not much folks from youtube are actually speaking of this. Been playing for some time when was younger, but I wasn't skilled - played some easy chords on classical guitar. Now I'm back, with electric guitar and learning everything from scratch for around 2 years now straight. Watched this video, practiced to get away with bad habits, it was exactly what you said. Now my picking is more constant in sound, and now it's even harder to make mistake. This unblocked "calm" picking which I was missing. Really thanks!
I might have also some advice for you! As I really want to make more people see your work that you put here - it's not about quality in this case, this will come later I'm sure - I would make video titles more "search" friendly :)
Hello Ben!, Recently I discovered your channel and, apart from finding your advices really usefull and the fact that they are saving me a lot of time in my practice, I think that you're a great theacher because you're focusing in what it feels related with the movements that we made in guitar, rater than the movement itself (I hope that you can understand me in that point). Thanks for all man, big fan of this channel!
Really enjoy your channel and tips. You cover topics nobody else does and it's actually helpful! Thanks!
I‘ve been a player for 30 years and your inputs are uniquely helping me with ergonimics.
Your channel deserves more views and although I appreciate the close view of your hands for the examples, I think you should show your face during explanations, as it would facilitate for people to connect with you as a person. I am sure it would help your reach, it‘s basic psychology. Keep on the good work!
Thanks man! I definitely need to work on production quality, but also not doing videos in one take bothers me - a lot of people on youtube are pretending to have good technique and use jump cuts and edits to erase 150 outtakes.
I don’t think you should teach this stuff at an advanced level if you can’t pull it out of your ass immediately on demand!
I HAD SCROLLED PAST HIM SEVERAL TIMES THEN I JUST STOPPED TO LISTEN TO HIM AND FIND A GEM!
I've never really thought about this, and after picking up the guitar it's apparent that I naturally place the weight of my arm on the upper-rear portion of the body; where the forearm relief is cut. It's now obvious that this helps keep the wrist loose and free, especially for 2nps stuff (downward pick slanting/upstroke escape in Troy Grady terms), as opposed to resting the weight on/near the bridge with the wrist. Interesting observation. Thanks for that! 👍
Would you be able to make a video about breaking the habit for down picking if you have been playing like that for years? really struggle with that and it has plateau'd my playing. Thanks for the helpful content!
this is a very crucial observation.
Super interesting, I typically lean closer to the wrist and am a natural upward pick slanter. I wonder if leaning on nearer the elbow end and freeing that wrist might be a way to address that aspect and help downward pick slanting feel more relaxed.
That’s an interesting point, thank you Ben!
I've always put my strap across the front of the guitar to angle the guitar to face me a bit more and after seeing this video I realize it's putting my forearm flat against the body so there's no pivot point. Never thought about it before. I just did that because it was more comfortable.
Wow man! This helped me a lot!
I've thought of this in terms of anchoring. I do prefer forearm (keeping pick hand relaxed) but for some fast picking on the low E/technical patterns I (so far) prefer to anchor near my wrist. I think my preference is a matter of string tracking though and could probably be trained either way.
Interesting - it’s definitely possible to use both and committing one way or the other can actually make certain stuff (low e string chugging is a good example) harder. Exactly my experience as well!
both are not ideal. Look into Anton Oparin alternate picking technique. You have a lot of trouble picking clean on the thinnest 2 strings, it seems, not a single clean note was played on the thinnest two. Also, when working on technique turn off reverb and delay so you do not mask your mistakes
Big fan of Anton’s work - he is the best out there for sure!
As for ‘clean’ picking, I think there’s levels of this which you can reach and are entirely unnecessary as a musician. Mike Stern is hardly ‘clean’ by Anton’s standards, but he played in many of the greatest jazz projects ever recorded! I would consider him a very good alternate picker personally. Just trying to help people improve not be the best technician alive.